Cloud makes CIO #1 useless corporate job?

This view was shared by cloud service providers at cloud summit I attended last week – internal IT groups were either seen as obstructive (and were being actively avoided by their business going to the cloud), or were seen as well meaning and occasionally useful but flatout with current work and pretty much clueless with the cl0ud. SMEs are largest users of the cloud so far and are avoiding having IT departments by doing it. Large organisations are how far behind?

IT needs to invent a new kind for lightweight approach to enriching relationships with the business and helping them access services in the cloud. Those IT groups that are seen as well meaning and tolerated by the business – well done – you have some chance of long term survival if you develop your nascent understanding of the business enough to help with the kind of speed dating of cloud services that serves for business analysis.

Why would we spend too much time analysing the business when the cloud options are there for us to explore and to develop understanding of which cloud features will enable business strategy. At a high level, what is the current business function and what should it become, enabled by the cloud. And the cloud market has already shown us which 2-6 services are worth speed dating.

This is not just about saving money. The greater scale benefits in the cloud are in collaboration and innovation. Why wait for IT to deliver the next major upgrade when the cloud is releasing new features all the time, based on the wisdom of the entire customer base? Not much point over-analysing our idiosyncratic current business model given we want to change it for strategic benefit, and not much point overanalysing the new model either, given its rate of evolution when enabled by the cloud.

It comes back to the core business people and their evolving (strategic, tactical and operational) knowledge of the conduct of the business, and how well IT people can work with them to exploit the cloud. People and collaborative workplace culture are the secret sauce.

Or if this is too hard IT can run the network – hang on what about the NBN?

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